New partnership aims to save lives

Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has joined forces with the British Heart Foundation in order to help save lives across the country.

The fire service now stores cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training kits in all 356 of its stations so that members of the public will be able to teach themselves the potentially life-saving skill for someone in cardiac arrest.

The Call Push Rescue training kits were donated to the fire service by the British Heart Foundation.

Anyone is now able to arrange a training time with their local community fire station in which they will be taught by a DVD before practicing with the manikins.

The vital training only takes 30 minutes to complete.

Graeme Laird, station manager for Formartine and Garioch, said: “We feel it is a valuable service which will help provide training for the local community.

“It is going to be an ongoing programme now we have the kits and we ask for volunteers to contact their local fire station and they will provide the necessary training.”

He added: “We feel it is an opportunity to engage with the members of the public.

“It is a life skill that can be utilised anywhere within the community and everyone can take part to do it.”

The partnership between Scottish Fire and Rescue and the British Heart Foundation began on October 16 to mark European Restart a Heart Day.

Scottish Fire and Rescue assistant chief officer and director of service delivery, Dave Boyle, said: “This partnership is one part of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service’s commitment to support the Scottish Government’s Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest Strategy and Save a Life for Scotland campaign.

“We want to contribute to saving an extra 1000 lives in Scotland by 2020.”

He added: “We are extremely grateful to the British Heart Foundation for providing the CPR kits and we hope this initiative will save hundreds of lives in the weeks, months and years to come.”